


Any Time At All

by just_peachy



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: F/M, Underage Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-13
Updated: 2011-02-13
Packaged: 2017-10-15 15:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/162137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_peachy/pseuds/just_peachy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Helena Bertinelli typical day. A good concealer hides everything. Pop quizzes are a teacher's bread and butter. And Hugs are kinda necessary sometimes.</p><p>This takes place in a magical place where Vic and Helena are in a relationship with Helena being annoyingly coy about the whole thing. Vic doesn't actually appear in this fic, but he is definitely present throughout the story.</p><p>I have the thank my lovely BETA reader Sarah again, because she is amazing. Enjoy guys!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Any Time At All

**Author's Note:**

> All you gotta do is call  
> And I'll be there

I like being on my feet most of the time. It comes in handy in the morning when I’m running around my apartment getting ready. Usually, I make sure to have outfits and stockings ready the night before, so that I can cover up any bruises I might have gotten the night before. The concealer that I buy is top notch. Luckily, nothing got thrown in my face last night.

Lastly, I make sure that the graded papers are by the house keys near the pantry - or else I’ll forget them in the morning. So far, so good; just need the papers.

Wait… messages. Ugh, these better be short.

 **:: Hey it’s Dinah. I was wondering if you want to meet up for lunch. I’ll be in your neck of the woods. Nothing big, but I’m craving a burger at that diner near the High School. Text me when you leave.  ::**

I guess it’ll give me a reason to get out of the English Department lounge.

 **:: O here. Before you head out tonight make sure that you review the new case. You guys did well last night. See ya later.  ::**

 _Lovely._

 **:: Hey it’s Vic. Call me later ::**

What a loser…

 **:: Hey loser, make sure that you remember your Hamlet guide with all those study sheets for the kids. Call me later. ::**

What an _annoying_ loser.

***

“Good morning everyone! Guess what?”

There’s the usual tired murmur of “what,” “oh no,” some yawning, and that odd gleam of terror behind Maxine’s glasses. I grab the newly photocopied single sheets of papers off my desk and begin counting them off. The kids sit in rows of ten. So I hand them off to the students sitting in front of the rows. I look at their faces to gauge how they feel about it. I know right away that Lauren (first one on the left) doesn’t remember. That’s odd, though.

“Pop Quiz,” I shout.

There is more groaning. And whining and some eyes that are rolling. What a bunch of drama llamas.

“But Ms. Bertinelli, I thought you said that we weren’t going to get tested until Thursday.”

“That was my plan, Angie, but I graded your papers last night and most of you had good things to say. Don’t worry about this one, though.”

I finally finish handing out the papers to the last row. And I start walking in between the rows to make sure that all the cell phones are gone. They must really think I’m stupid.

“Put that away Robert. Unless you want to read your love texts from your girlfriend aloud.”

“But Ms. Bertinelli—“

“It’ll be fine guys. This is just to see what you can remember. You can start now. And if I hear any texting, your phone goes into that locked box in Principal Jackson’s office. Got it now—”

“So we won’t be graded on this?”

“I never said that either, Felipe, just start. You only have 15 minutes. And no talking.”

Slowly, I walk between the rows I see some heads come up and look at the walls. As if some obscure detail from Hamlet will be on the walls. This isn’t a hard test though. Just one question: “Is Hamlet on the brink of insanity by the end of Act 1? 'Yes' or 'No' and give three examples from the text. Use paragraph form.”

Not hard at all.

When I call time, the students pass their papers forward and I collect them. I see a couple of smiles and even less frowns. Not bad.

“Was it really that hard to come up with three things?”

And the groaning meets my ears again. Heh.

***

“What do you mean, Jackie?”

Jackie is a divorcee. A basketball and volleyball coach with a perpetual smile on her face and shoulder pads that needed to be removed a decade ago. She gets on my nerves most of the time. Plus, I don’t understand how someone can be that happy all of the time. All. The. Time.

“I mean, I need a coaching assistant and I know that you work out silly.”

“Who told you that?”

She tries to grab my arm and I let her. I have to remember that she isn’t trying to put me in a choke hold. She can’t let go of my arm fast enough, so I shrug it off. Remember to smile, Helena.

“I mean, you work out. And you know that they are cutting most of the athletic programs. It’s too expensive to hire anyone new right now. Don’t you want to at least help out with conditioning the girls?”

“Look, I have things to do after school when I clock out. Plus, I never did sports when I was growing up. It’s just so… look, I can’t and I have to go meet someone for lunch.”

“Well, if you change your mind, let me know honey.”

God, I _hate_ her voice.

***

“I think you look good today, Helena.”

“Stop chewing with your mouth open.”

“ _God_ , sorry, but I think you look good today. You seem like you only want to punch me in the face lovingly.”

I have to laugh.

“I’m being serious. Who’s bugging you today? Besides me chewing on this massive burger with my mouth wide open.”

“Besides you, there’s Jackie.”

“Is she that Blondie with the 80s pantsuits?”

“Yup.”

“ _Ewww._   Go on.”

“She wants me to be the assistant coach for her teams. And I said no. This job is hard enough and with the pajama parties we have at night. Just… no. Fuck that.”

“But Helena, you could be like Bobby Knight. Throwing chairs at the referee when they make the wrong call— I mean, imagine that.”

Heh.

“That’s another reason why I can’t be a coach. Think of the lawsuits, Dinah. The budget cuts are bad enough.”

“Yeah besides, our pajama parties are more fun.”

***

I stay for a little while after school and make some copies. Normally, I get back to my apartment at 2:30. I sleep for a few hours, work out, eat something and head out for the night. All that’s standing in the way is a quick trip to the restroom.

And… there’s smoke?

“Hey whoever is lighting up in here. I’m going to bust your ass right now if you don’t come out. Let’s go. It’ll be like pulling a bandaid.”

I hear some squeaks and see some water spill on the floor. Walking up to the third stall I recognize that smell. And my whole body shivers before open the door. I see the pipe. There are wet Doc Martens on the floor and Lauren looking right at me.

“You are so stupid.”

“Ms. B. I was…. was…I am getting clean.”

“Your shoes are clean. You, though… that’s a big fat no. You are anything but clean. Get up.”

“Ms. B. You don’t understand though. I can’t get up.”

“It’s not hard, just get up.”

“I can’t, though, if my Mom finds out I’ve been doing this like…  Ms. B, please don’t. She’ll send me off with my Dad. And I—“

“What’s wrong with your Dad? I’ve never heard you talk about him.”

“He’s…”

I tapped my heels, and started rubbing my eyes.

“Do you need a ride home?”

“Are you going to say anything?”

“No, I promise. But get up or else I will.”

***

…Wow, Vic _actually_ changed the air freshener.

“So what did your Dad do to you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Is that what the crack’s for? You are so stupid, Lauren. You do realize that people die everyday just so that you can get your high? You watch the news, don’t you?”

“I know.”

“I don’t think you do.”

Be _nice_ , Helena, “Listen, you need to get cleaned up. And the only reason why I didn’t take your sorry ass right to Principal Jackson’s office, is because I don’t want you to get expelled. You get expelled, and there go any college acceptance letters. There are good treatment programs—”

“—I don’t need that—”

“—You are still seventeen, and once I tell your mother, you won’t have a choice.”

“It’s nothing, Ms. B.”

“Bullshit. You have good grades, you have good SAT scores. You can get into Hudson U or any of the other big schools on the east coast. I don’t understand why you’d want to fuck it up for a chance to get high. That high goes away in a few hours. It doesn’t last. And if you keep using and using, it’ll never be enough.”

“I don’t know.”

“What don’t you know?”

“I just don’t know.”

That’s not a good enough answer.

Once I had to come here to pick up some cupcakes for a fundraiser. Lauren’s mom is a pastry person and works at home. She makes the best red velvet cupcakes. I keep remembering this when I walk through the door. There she was with Lauren’s younger brother. This small toddler (three going on four) is running around the house. Throwing sprinkles on the floor. Carol… that’s her name. Carol looked shocked to see me. But I think she knew what I was doing there. I turned to my right and saw those silent tears coming down Lauren’s face.

“I found this with her.”

Carol started to cry and I winced a little bit. Part of me knows that this would be easier with the pajamas on. But this is not easy to do either way. It did not feel good. I would have loved to have been a part of the sting that was supposed to stop these drugs from coming in. But that was in the past. It is done. But here was the result of it. Staring me in the face. I heard the coos of baby Nathan… yeah Nathan is his name. He was listening in the corner while chewing on a doll. I gave some pamphlets that were in my briefcase to Carol and tried to reassure her that the costs would be low and if they needed to help to pay for it, I could do it. No big.

By the time I looked outside again, it was starting to get dark. I feel bad for thinking about missing my exercise drills, but that’s just a fleeting thought. It’s gone just as quickly.

I see Lauren holding her brother as I talked with Carol at the door when I go to leave.

“She’s a good kid. She just needs some help getting back on track. It is senior year, and I know that things get lost in the shuffle sometimes, but this can be fixed. I know a good counselor and I’ll make sure that she goes at least once a week. No one has to know, alright? And if she needs help with anything else, I still remember my calculus.”

“You think she’ll be fine?”

“I’m sure she will. She just needs you to tell her that you love her. And...go easy on her. Don’t push her away. Just… be there.” I hope that didn’t sound like a question.

“I can’t thank you enough for this, Ms. Bertinelli.”

“Please, call me Helena.”

“Thank you, Helena, I can’t believe that you’ve taken so much time to do this.”

“Lauren is one of my best students, she does great in everything she does. And I know she can get through this.” I bite my lip and go for the kill, “I don’t mean to pry, but where’s her Dad.”

Carol shifted a bit, and looked at her kids and back at me. Her eyes changed slightly.

“One day, she’s going to realize that she doesn’t need him. I don’t anymore. I work at home and I can be a mom. I can do it. Hopefully, she will be able to get that later. It’s just hard now because he was in our lives for so long. She probably picked it up from him. But he loved that crap more than us.”

Figures.

“Thank you for telling me. I’d love to stay, but I really need to head back home.” I give Carol a little hug. I look at Lauren and she nods back at me. I should just leave it at that. “You have my cell, just call or text me if you need anything. Both of you.”

“No… thank _you,_ Helena. Thank you.”

“Good night, Ms. B.”

I hear the door shut with a slow creak while the sun sets ahead. The cool breeze feels good, but I love it when the breeze gets even colder later.

***

“So… you didn’t look at the files?”

“No, O. Is the line secure?”

“It is now. And why didn’t you look at them?”

“I was having sex with a guy this afternoon—“

“—Helena, why would you—”

“—Babs, I just got sidetracked. And you know, he was _really_ good.”

Dinah pokes my shoulder and gives me a look. I decide to stop when I hear Oracle and not Babs.

“BC, you can just give H a rundown. I don’t think the drop is coming until midnight.”

Dinah starts before I can give my _coup de grace_. 

“Gotcha O. Over and out.”

Dinah looks at me and I raise my brows. She has a two coffee cups and hands me one reluctantly.

“I think it’s lousy that I bring you coffee and you can’t even tell me who you’re sleeping with. At least tell me something. Is he a looker?”

“Sorry Dinah, but I have terrible eyesight.”

“You’re terrible.”

“I know.”

She smiles, and so do I as we sip on our coffees. I should tell her what happened earlier, but not now. Because this party just started early.

There are some drug shipments in those docks below. And these guys have AK-47s.

Good thing I always come prepared. 


End file.
